Previously on ModFab

Tuesday, June 20, 2006

Stage Addiction: Kiddie Porn Musicals!

- Light the candles, get the ice out, roll the rug up, it's today! The Kennedy Center revival of Mame may be destined for Broadway; The Weisslers are in discussions to bring it to the Palace (where Lestat just bit the dust) as early as next month, with a decision coming later this week. It's got star power to burn: Christine Baranski (Cybill, Chicago) and Harriet Harris (Desperate Housewives, Thoroughly Modern Millie) and a bevy of legit stage folk. The stumbling block? Its reported $600,000-a-week operating cost.

- The Light in the Piazza, which closes July 2 after a 15-month Broadway run and its gorgeous PBS appearance last week, will now embark on a 50-week national tour beginning August 1 in San Francisco. Leading lady Victoria Clark will not join the tour, preferring to take the rest of 2006 off in preparation for her return to Lincoln Center next spring in South Pacific. So instead, the role of Margaret will go to Tony nominee Christine Andreas (The Scarlet Pimpernel). Stops in L.A., D.C., Toronto, Seattle, Denver, Orlando, Miami, Portland, Costa Mesa, Tempe and Sacramento will follow through mid-2007.

- Brush up your you-know-what: Google has launched Google Shakespeare, a new online compendium that includes all the Bard's plays in a searchable database. Which means you can finally get around to reading Coriolanus for free, or find a great quote for almost any situation. Finally, the internet proves useful for something.

- The big musical of the moment is Spring Awakening, a rock re-imagining of Wedekind's classic play of adolescent sexuality. Extended until August 6 at Off-Broadway's Atlantic Theatre Company, the music by Duncan Sheik is thrilling, the choreography of Bill T. Jones is amazing, the direction of Michael Mayer is provocative, and the book scenes by Steven Sater are....well, you can't have everything. But it does feature the most talented teenage cast I've ever seen, led by Jonathan Groff and John Gallagher Jr. (Rabbit Hole)...and not just because they handle the graphic sex and S&M with thoughtful maturity. They're pretty great actors and singers, too.